Reviewing and Criticizing Dwight M. Donaldson’s Theory on the Explanation of the Authenticity of Mahdism

The study of Orientalists’ thoughts on the issue of Mahdism studies is of particular importance with regard to its reflections among the Westerners. Dwight M. Donaldson is an orientalist of the contemporary era who became famous for writing and publishing the book of “Shiite Religion”. In the Mahdism part of his book, he made some false judgments. The doubt in the origin of the issue of Mahdism and the appearance of the Imam of the Time is one of these misjudgments.
The present research has defended the Mahdism thought with a descriptive-analytic method while it explains Donaldson’s thought on Mahdism. Among the weaknesses of his research method is the selection of method of historic perspective and the relatively non-valid sources.
Among the criticisms relevant to the content of Donaldson’s words are the study of status of the Qur’an and Hadith in the Mahdism discussions and the validity granted to these two important sources in the explanation of the issue of Mahdism and validity of Ibn Khaldun’s words in the Sunni intellectual system. Moreover, the final section of the current paper points to the review of the issue of Mahdism in Kaysanites and proves that the emergence of Mahdism thought is not influenced by the Kaysanites sect and the injustice of Umayyad era.